


Guilt, Silence and Causation

by taylor_tut



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 09:20:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11250186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylor_tut/pseuds/taylor_tut
Summary: Winning Prompt: Lance, Keith, and Shiro crash on a planet and it’s kinda Lance’s fault. Shiro has a broken ankle, and even though Lance has a concussion and some burns from getting out of his lion into the flaming brush, he feels so guilty about the crash and hurting Shiro that he doesn’t tell the others. So while he and Keith are carrying Shiro, he just kind of out of nowhere starts to get sick and loopy and nonsensical and then just drops.





	Guilt, Silence and Causation

**Author's Note:**

> Full Prompt: Fic idea 2:  
> Lance, Keith, and Shiro crash on a planet and it’s kinda sorta Lance’s fault. Shiro has a broken ankle, and even though Lance has a concussion and some burns from getting out of his lion into the flaming brush, he feels so guilty about the crash and hurting Shiro that he doesn’t tell the others. So while he and Keith are carrying Shiro, he just kind of out of nowhere starts to get sick and loopy and nonsensical and then just drops.  
> and they’re like  
> O__O what just happened  
> and then they find the blood stains in Lance’s hair and they’re like fuck  
> and maybe the burns even get infected and they’re like F U C K  
> but Shiro still can’t move around on his ankle and Keith can’t carry him alone so they STILL have to rely on Lance to get to a safe place where they can hide and wait for rescue

No one was outright saying that the crash was Lance’s fault, but their silence as just as incriminating as Keith and Lance supported most of Shiro’s weight to keep it off his broken ankle.

“We need to get somewhere we can wait until the others can come for us,” Shiro gritted out through a tight jaw.

“Can’t we just stay by our Lions?” Lance asked, but Shiro shook his head.

“I already explained that would draw too much attention to us, Lance. Weren’t you listening?” Lance blinked a few times.

“Oh,” was all he replied. In truth, he hadn’t been listening–his head was pounding, and his whole left side had been badly burnt when he’d gotten out of his Lion. The crash had sparked a fire in the dry brush of the planet, and Lance hadn’t noticed it until he was already touching the fire.

“Keep up, Lance,” Keith bit. Lance bristled and opened his mouth to retort that he was doing the best he could and that he probably had a concussion from where he had hit his head. Keith sounded less patient than their leader did, even though Shiro was the one who was hurt. Shiro was hurt–right. That’s why he couldn’t say anything. Shiro was injured and it was all Lance’s fault.

So instead of explaining himself, Lance tried to step up his pace. However, he was already pushing it just by being upright, if he was being honest, and the quicker speed was making his head spin unbearably.

“Can we–” he tried to ask, but his mouth started to fill with thin, watery saliva before he could get the words out.

“Can we what?” Shiro asked, but Lance didn’t reply. Instead, he shoved Shiro into Keith hurriedly.

Shiro grunted in pain as his ankle touched the ground, and Keith yelped in surprise.

“What the hell, Lance?!” Keith barked.

Lance was leaning one arm against a tree, clutching his side weakly.

“Lance?” Shiro tried. Lance started retching. It was several moments of dry-heaving before anything actually came up, and when it did, Shiro and Keith both winced at the liquid noise of vomit hitting the ground.

“Talk to me, buddy,” Shiro instructed, but he sounded very far away from Lance right now. All Lance wanted to do was sleep. He swayed forward. “What’s going on?” Shiro sounded so, so desperate, and worried–Lance had already done enough to Shiro today. Forcing his eyes to remain open, he turned around, still leaning heavily on the tree, and pulled out his most winning smile.

“Must be the heat,” Lance lied, “Sorry about that. Did I hurt you, Shiro?”

Shiro shook his head. “No, Lance; I’m fine. I think you should sit down for a minute. You’re not looking very well.”

When Lance shook his head, his whole body teetered dangerously to one side as he stumbled dangerously back toward Keith and Shiro to slide his arm back beneath Shiro’s own, taking on his weight once more.

“'M good,” he slurred, “We’ve gotta… we were doing something.”

Shiro’s eyebrows pulled together in worry. “You don’t remember?”

Lance looked panicked. He couldn’t let Shiro down, not again. “Course I remember,” he dismissed, “’cause I take this seriously. What kind of paladin would I be if I forgot where we’re going?”

Lance’s speech sounded downright drunk.

“Something’s seriously wrong,” he heard Shiro say. The black paladin was talking about him, he knew it, but trying to discern what he was saying to Keith was like trying to decipher a foreign language.

“We just gotta get where we’re goin’, then we’ll be good,” Lance tried to help. Another two steps forward found Lance plowing face first into the ground, and with no one able to catch him, he simply hit the floor with a sickening thunk.

“Lance?!” Shiro called, dropping to his knees carefully beside the boy. Now that he was able to see the back of the kid’s head, he noticed that his brown hair was matted with something dark and sticky…

“He was bleeding,” Keith observed. “Do you think he has a concussion?”

Shiro looked at Keith uncertainly. “It seems likely,” he admitted. “Why wouldn’t he say something?” Lance started to come around, his eyes fluttering with the strain of being awake.

“Lance, can you hear me?” Shiro called.

“Loud and clear, cap’n,” Lance mumbled groggily. “Too loud.”

Shiro took the volume of his voice down a notch. “How’re you feeling? Are you with me?” he asked.

“'M talkin’ to you,” he replied.

“Incoherently,” Keith returned. “Lance, can you sit up?” Lance sighed heavily but finally did so. “That’s good. Can you stand?”

He didn’t look as certain about this request.

“What are you doing, Keith?! He’s got a concussion and he just collapsed; he’s not in any condition to walk.”

“We’ve got to get to safety somehow,” Keith argued, “And I can’t carry both of you. Either Lance has to walk, or we have to leave one of you here alone while I make two trips, and I don’t want to do that unless we absolutely have to.”

Keith had a point. There was no way Lance would be able to fight off an attacker if he were left alone, and, though Shiro didn’t want to admit it, he himself probably couldn’t do that right now, either. He rubbed a hand down his face and sighed.

“Okay. Lance, buddy. We need you to stand up.” Lance whimpered, and what Shiro knew he had to do next killed him inside a bit. “If you don’t stand up, then Keith is going to have to take you to safety alone, but that means that I’ll be left out here by myself. Do you want that to happen?”

Lance’s eyes welled up with tears. Shit, shit, shit. Shiro hadn’t meant to do that. He immediately wished he could take it back.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, scrambling to his feet as quickly as he could, “'M sorry, 'm sorry Shiro,” he was muttering. It was barely even coherent words at this point, just breathy, hitched syllables that sounded like he was on the verge of tears. Keith felt a little choked up, too.

“You’re doing good, Lance,” Keith reassured. “Don’t rush it; take your time.”

“Jus’ don’t leave Shiro alone here,” he begged. “Nobody gets left behind.”

Keith nodded. “Of course not. We’re not leaving either of you behind. You’re doing so well. Look at that; you’re standing.” And indeed he was, albeit shakily.

“There’s no way I can lean on him right now,” Shiro whispered to Keith, “he can barely hold himself up.” But Lance was suddenly underneath his arm again, supporting his weight.

“Lance, no,” Shiro chastised, “You’ve done enough. Stop.”

Lance was sweating profusely, and heat rolled off his body in waves. Shiro could feel the fever radiating from him. 

“Nobody get’s left behind,” Lance repeated, “Lilo and Stitch,” he continued blearily, “You’re my ohana, mi familia. Nadie se queda atrás.” Neither Keith nor Shiro had ever heard Lance speak Spanish before.

Lance’s pace was excruciating. They were unable to convince him to let go of Shiro, and he stumbled every so often, clutching his left side in agony. However, every time Keith or Shiro asked to see the wound, he refused to let them touch him.

“When it’s safe,” he kept repeating, and they figured it would have to do for now.

The three paladins managed to find a cave to wait in. It was mostly dry, but it had a good view of the planet, and it was secluded far enough away from the Lions that they figured it was their best bet at safety for now.

“Okay, Lance; let’s see your side,” Shiro asserted. Lance, however, was already trying (and failing) to bandage Shiro’s foot. Shiro winced as Lance’s uncoordinated hands grabbed at his foot, pretty clearly seeing double, in an attempt to stabilize the injury.

“I can handle that, Lance,” Keith reassured, “right now, you’re hurt worse. Show us your side.” Lance looked uncertainly at Shiro, who nodded, so he figured that maybe it was okay to let Keith look at his injuries, just for a minute. They really stung, but he knew fuzzily that it couldn’t possibly compare to the pain his leader was experiencing.

Lance needed help getting off his armor. Keith felt uncomfortable about it but assisted anyway, and once he was finally able to look at him without a shirt on, he paled.

Large, angry burns covered his whole left side.

“Lance, holy… how did you carry me with burns like that?” Shiro asked, flabbergasted.

Lance shrugged. He let his forehead come to a rest against Keith’s shoulder, slumping forward in utter exhaustion. He’d drained everything he had getting Shiro back here to the cave, but now that they were safe, he figured maybe it was okay to nap.

He didn’t register Keith’s panicked voice telling him to stay awake, or his cool hands palming his forehead and announcing that he was burning up. However, Shiro liked to think that the small, relaxed smile that spread across his face when he stroked the blue paladin’s hair and told him he’d done a good job was not a coincidence.


End file.
